


Sanctuary

by BabyChocoboAlchemist



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Ignis Squad 2017, M/M, Prompto Protection Squad 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-03 22:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10259690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyChocoboAlchemist/pseuds/BabyChocoboAlchemist
Summary: COMPLETE! Promnis oneshot. In the darkest recesses of ancient caverns, Ignis and Prompto open up to each other, the latter revealing a part of himself he never thought he’d share with anyone.





	1. My Heart is a Battleground

Ignis regretted the day he met Prompto.

It was in his ignorance he remained, mind cold and cluttered while the prince’s new friend made his mark. It’s not one of the tactician’s favorite memories-as a matter of fact, it’s a memory he’d like to banish into the realm of nothingness. But it was there all the same, the day his path clashed with Prompto’s, and it was because of that day Ignis was well acquainted with his greatest enemy. It was the witless beast that leapt at him whenever he looked in the mirror. The lone wolf detached from all that dealt with life.

Ignis regretted the day he met Prompto, because it was in that day he came face-to-face with himself. Ignorance truly was bliss as he fumbled through the unfolding hours, while Prompto lit up the stage with fervor and grace. Noct’s classmate stumbled at times, forgetting due dates, devoting every moment to defeating the boss in whatever arcade game they enjoyed, but it was in those steps Ignis saw something. Something brilliantly bright, warm and incredible beyond all measure. Something that transcended the might of the kings that came before. He couldn’t put his finger on it in the beginning, but everything became clear once the two of them were caught in the arcade. 

Ignis loved that moment, the moment in which he caught Prompto glowing like a firefly over whatever level they were on. Noctis should’ve been memorizing dates of battles long past, should’ve been working on the day’s assignments, but a certain firefly had him chained to their game. While there was a prick of aggravation in the beginning, it was quickly erased by something much greater.

Reverence. And it was that warm, electric feeling that swept through him, defeating the pain that should’ve been there, rendering him breathless, excited, a host of sensations he never believed possible.

A small fire had been lit. Prompto was there, right beside him, fumbling as he had done so many times before. Frantic, sniffing, wondering how to fix the world when it should never have been on his shoulders. There wasn’t too much to see in the darkness that must’ve swallowed all of Eos, but Ignis knew he was there. Saw the photographer as clear as day. Prompto had a habit of piercing the darkness without trying, even as he buried himself under a volley of stones. All of them harsh, none of them warranted.

Ah. The moments leading to their descent into darkness. Ignis scrambled to retrieve them as fast as he could, not wanting any memory to slip away, not wanting to be the least bit helpless to the young man at his side. The four of them were in the caverns, searching for something. A beast that could have swallowed the planet pounced, roars shattering their calm like arrows through windows. The creature from a realm of nightmares swatted at a certain bladesman, there was a flash of blonde, a yelp, and off into greater darkness they tumbled. Paths severed from Noct’s and Gladio’s, they had fallen into their own dimension, one that knew only darkness and the sound of Prompto’s tears. Memories, all of them radiant with the light Ignis had grown so fond of.

Electricity seared his side, then lit up his chest. The beast had done its worst, ripping through him as though he weren’t anything but paper. The clamor of his wounds fell to the sound of his friend’s tears, though, all of them fragile, heavy, and none of them warranted. Through the caverns’ dusk he saw Prompto, felt Prompto, heard the young gunslinger’s whimpers about how it was all his fault, why wasn’t he faster, why was he there at all when he was completely and utterly useless. 

There were a billion ways to describe Prompto, but none of them fell along the lines of useless. 

Cold lacerated him, surging from the caverns that lurked inside and outside. Words fought to reach the surface, all of them meant to comfort the young man that had protected him, but none of them came out. There were touches, though, hurried ones, gentle ones, all of them healing. Soothing. The artisan of memory was working his magic, as he always did, with the little potions he had. Two, to be exact, but the hands that administered them transformed them into the most powerful elixirs Ignis had ever felt. He suppressed his thoughts as the healing liquid washed through him, but then returned full attention to the tears streaming down Prompto’s cheeks a moment later. 

“This is all my fault, all my damn fault! Don’t even have a lot of potions on me, gods damn it. Is it REALLY that hard for me to do ANYTHING right?”

“Don’t know what planet you’re on, but you did your best to keep me safe. I hardly see that as a crime.”

Shock erupted on the gunner’s face as though Ignis had just come back to life, loud and innocent, alive with the gentleness of the seasons. Prompto raced to tell Ignis to not speak, to not push himself because he wasn’t smart enough to carry enough potions into battle, but the tactician laid hands onto the other’s face, grasping for warmth in the caverns’ embers. “You’ve done well,” Noctis’ mentor spoke, softer than the fragile air they breathed. And it was with a world of memories Ignis spoke, his mind reeling with images of bright, shining smiles illuminating the hours.

“Without you, I surely would’ve been in a far worse condition. Besides, this isn’t so bad. We’ve finally got some quiet. I’m sure our darling Prince Noctis and his partner-in-crime will find us soon enough.”

“How you holdin’ up?” the photographer asked, breathless, heart racing. Ignis couldn’t keep a smile off his face: even when the world was falling apart, even after he had been thrown into a world detached from all else, Prompto worried about someone else. Worried about him. 

Something bloomed inside of his chest, and it wasn’t just the potion’s touch.

“Much better than I would’ve been without you, thank you. I’ve been through far worse than this, I’ll have you know, so I’d be even better if you’d stop badgering yourself.”

“Amazing how you’re still talking so much,” Prompto chuckled, hand against his forehead, sounding as though uttering a syllable wrenched his spirit dry of strength. “Not like the potions did too much of anything. It would’ve been better if-“

Something cold seized the gunner’s eyes, as white as the moon. Ignis blinked through waves of dull, throbbing sensations to find Prompto’s face the color of a pearl. The drive to crush that panic rose to his lips in the form of a question, as he wanted nothing more than to wipe those emotions off the firefly’s face, but Prompto cut him off, breathless. Panting. Gripping his arm-

Where a black bandana had been.

There must’ve been something he could to help. Something other than remain still, waiting for the world to patch him up. But-

The look on Prompto’s face skewered him.

“Don’t. Just hang on, okay?”

“Mind telling me why?”

“You’ve gotta rest,” came the breathless, frantic answer. A smile followed shortly after, weak and deceptive. 

“Just stop, Iggy. You know how t’ do that, right? Take a breather. You need it. You definitely need some more patchwork, and I’m not the guy to get it done.”

“What’s so important about that cloth you had around your arm, anyway? That’s what you’re frantic about, isn’t it?”  


Ignis was responsible for wringing his spirit dry, proven by the look on his face. The smile Prompto had so painstakingly crafted was falling away, breaking little by little but quickly, so quickly the pieces were lost. “Can’t a guy have secrets?” he asked, breath being wrenched out of him as though he weren’t anything but a ragdoll, cold, wet, battered, frightened. Fear rose, reaching beyond the moon, but it was because of that fear Ignis pressed on. “No,” the wounded bladesman panted, grabbing Prompto’s hand.

“Not secrets that drive stakes through your spirit.”

It was at that moment the tactician became the most feared entity in all of Eos, frightening, intimidating, cruel. But Ignis wouldn’t let go, wouldn’t relent, for doing so would’ve meant he accepted it. All of it. The ignorance, the isolation, the silence that painted every nook and cranny of his former world. A world in which-

Prompto didn’t exist.

He was firm but infinitely tender, meeting the gentleness of the embers painting their corner of the universe. All wounds forgotten, he focused solely on the young man in front of him, with eyes reflecting the cavern’s calm light. It was in that moment Ignis realized how delicate his friend really was. Prompto was there, hand locked in his, but one wrong word would have him disappear forever. “I won’t have it,” the chef told him.

“I won’t accept you tormenting yourself any longer, but I’m also unwilling to pry.”

“Then let go,” came the swift, hoarse, frail answer. 

“I will, as soon as I’ve said my piece. I don’t know what you’re hiding, but whenever you feel the need to share it, to confide in someone, please, allow me to be the one you confide in. After everything you’ve done for me, it seems only logical for me to repay your kindness.”

“What’re you talking about?” the gunner asked, weak chuckles popping out of his mouth as tears painted his cheeks. “I haven’t done a damn thing for you!”

Ignis laughed, stern yet emitting the warmth his friend desperately craved. It was a small sound, a weak sound, but a rare sound. A sound as brilliant as the stars they couldn’t see. 

“How wrong you are. You couldn’t be more wrong. Prompto, you’ve done more for me than any other being on this plane of existence. Noct included. Out of the three of you, why do you think you’re the only one I can tolerate?”

Smiling, aching, exhausted beyond measure, Prompto shrugged. “That a trick question?”

Ignis grimaced, and it wasn’t because of the wounds littering his body. “I never utter a word I don’t mean, and rest assured, I definitely mean what I’m about to say. I want you to know that you can rely on me. Trust me to keep your secrets just as close as you do. If you ever feel like you don’t have anywhere to turn, if the world feels like it’s becoming just as dark as these damn caverns, turn to me. Please. I’ll help you. I promise. There’s no need to fear me, contrary to popular belief.”

Something was edging across Prompto’s face, rising in his eyes, but it was something he was afraid to let shine. Something Ignis recognized as ‘relief’. Acceptance of the arms that had been opened, but not quite in full bloom. “You’ve done a great deal for me,” he went on, voice much softer than before, softening his hold on the other’s hand.

“I want you to know that. And I’m not just talking about how you flatter me while I’m cooking. I’m talking about how kind you are to me on a regular basis. How you’ve changed me, opened me to new things. So please don’t be afraid of me.”

“You should watch how you talk to a guy,” the photographer panted, not at all moving away from the one that gave him so much light, warmth, comfort. 

Ignis, forever the one to rebel against all living forces, snapped back. “I’d be speaking to you like this even if you were a woman, mind you.”

Emotions were a vibrant mosaic in Prompto’s eyes, each one feverish, loud, electric. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“Yes. I’m fond of you. I’m fond of the person you are, not what you are.”

A secret buried so long in the recesses of the firefly’s heart was lifted, leaving his heart as light as a feather. “Well then,” he said with a smile framed in tears. “Since I know you swing both ways-“

“Both ways? Shiva’s breath, Prompto, I only swing for you. Did you not hear me? Even if you were a woman I’d have eyes only for you.”

The gunslinger bowed his head, gripping the place where the bandana had been, electricity pulsing through his veins. “Okay then,” he said, cheeks as red as the grace that danced through each sunrise. He fell silent for what must’ve been an eon, leaving only emotions to paint the air between them, then Prompto slowly lifted his hand. Images of what could happened stormed through him, poisoned him with nausea so strong it was violent. But on he went, the caverns’ embers filling his mind with violently loud panic, heart shrieking inside his chest. Little by little he revealed what he meant to keep hidden, knowing it would be all right, knowing Ignis wouldn’t turn away.

“Here goes nothing, I guess.”

And for the first time, Prompto revealed a part of the darkness that should’ve remained hidden, a part of himself no one, not even Noctis, would ever see. It was to Ignis he revealed it, but it was with Ignis he had no fear. 

So with the bandana abandoned, Prompto finally revealed his-

\-----------------  
“Would you get a move on?! I’d like to find them before the end of the year, please!”

“Get off my back! We haven’t eaten in hours! Gods damn it, what I wouldn’t give for a-“

“Say it! Say it again! Say Cup Noodles ONE MORE TIME, I dare you!”

“Cup Noodles Cup Noodles Cup Noodles Cup-aaah! What the hell, Noct?!”

A ball of fire blazing in the palm of his hand, a beaming Noctis stood triumphant against his adversary.

“I told you not to screw with me, Amicitia. Now help me find our missing brothers and you’ll get all of the Cup Noodles you could ever want.”


	2. Point of Origin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto lets Ignis into a world he’s determined to keep hidden from everyone else, taking a huge leap of faith.

It’s going to be all right, he kept telling himself as the greatest darkness was unveiled. 

Little by little, everything he spent a lifetime hiding was revealed. In the gloom of the caverns he bared himself to the one that offered a world of patience and kindness, treasures he felt unworthy of but craved much more than air. Paroxysms of panic gripped his insides, warning him of a possible fate, but it was from the future he did not want to run. Despite the fear that threatened to shut the light out forever, he kept on going, barely breathing but hoping. Awaiting the comfort he craved more than the gift of life. 

Ignis, still in immediate need of patchwork, waited. Patiently, kindly, with eyes as calm as daybreak. In the embers of the bonfire that had been created, Prompto was encouraged by the other’s warm energy. It was an aura so gentle, Hell’s greatest winter would’ve been quelled by it. The photographer had every right to be afraid, every right to have his mind reeling with thoughts, questions and nightmares, but he kept on going. Not at all interested in turning back. After all-

Ignis was there, in his corner of the universe, when everything else had fallen silent.

“Here ya go,” Prompto whimpered, tears rolling down his cheeks, voice aching from a burning, bleeding spirit. Landmines went off at that very moment, warning him to turn back, but Ignis promised. Promised to look after him. Welcomed him with open arms. So it was on he went, voice as fragile as the cavern winds, full of fear, hope, longing. 

“It’s my barcode. See? I was kinda born with it, I guess. It…it reminds me…of how little I am. Of how I’m not anything like you guys.”

Gripped by fear, Prompto gripped the barcode, hiding it not out of horror against Ignis, but out of disgust. Hatred. How could he not be gripped by hatred, when he had the nerve to show someone so beautiful something so ugly? “It reminds me I’m not human,” he went on, crackling, falling apart on the cavern floor. “It reminds me I’m nothing but a bunch of screw ups. Something that shouldn’t even be here, you know? Thought about getting rid of it, you know, by hitting up a tattoo parlor. Even thought about the one Gladio goes to. But nah, decided to keep it. After all, it’s like a brand. The kind jackasses stamp on chocobos and things. To round ‘em up. I’m like that, y’know. Something that should be kept in a cage.”

In the silence that followed, Ignis’ face was silent. Unreadable. Prompto could only tolerate so much of that silence before the remnants of his endurance snapped, leaving him vulnerable to the thunderstorms time threw at him. “That’s my big secret,” the gunner panted, still gripping the barcode. Shielding it against the cold. 

“I’m a guinea pig. Something whipped up in a lab. Nifleheim, to be exact. That and I’ve got like, the world’s biggest crush on you, but I guess that’s not a secret anymore.”

…

With his face once again the color of the moon, Prompto chuckled weakly. “Mind puttin’ me outta my misery? Sure would appreciate it.”

Not only was the other’s silence excruciating, but Prompto couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Whether Ignis wanted to slaughter every living creature on the planet or simply walk away was impossible to tell. But the moment he spoke, Prompto realized it was the former. Ignis’ eyes were quiet, soft even, but the strength blazing through them demanded respect from the Six. Never had he seen such fire in his friend’s eyes, not even against Noctis-and there had been quite a few thunderstorms between the two of them. There was something else worth noting, too. Something as strong as the anger blazing through their pocket of the universe. 

Sadness. And it was with those emotions, those eruptions of memory, Ignis spoke. 

“It was dark, my life and the world around me. As dark as soot before the dawn. I thought I had it all together, thought I wouldn’t need anything other than my wits to get me through. But when I asked to become the prince’s advisor, I realized just how dark my life truly was. Of course I was determined to dedicate every moment of my life to looking after him, but I knew I had nothing to offer. Nothing to offer in the way of friendship. Guidance. In the end, all I could do was keep his apartment tidy and keep him from eating garbage, day in and day out. Not much of a caretaker, but it was the life I was trapped in. A life engulfed by the silence of ignorance.”

“There were quite a few days I found impossible to meet with high spirits. Those days I could barely get out of bed. I had a purpose, someone to live for, but there was something missing. Somewhere along the line, I lost myself. I was incomplete. Silent. But then all of that changed. I changed. And it was the day I met someone.”

“Who?” Prompto asked, looking and sounding very much like a child holding onto every precious word. And it was in that wake of that question Ignis smiled, giving off rare light in the cavern’s soft glow.

“You.”

The shock that split through the photographer’s eyes caused Ignis to chuckle. “It was the day our darling prince brought you to the apartment,” he went on. “The two of you were prattling on and on about some game. Yes, Noct was supposed to have his mind on his books, but the two of you were having so much fun, I didn’t have the heart to interfere. It was the first time I had seen our prince so happy, after all. And it was in that light, the light you brought into our little home, I discovered myself.”

“You were so captivated by the game, it was impossible for me not to be captivated by you. You were so carefree, so joyful over something so simple. Didn’t understand it, still don’t, of course, but from that point on, I began looking forward to our time together. Still do. You remind me to get out of bed every morning in the highest spirits imaginable. It’s because of you I know how to smile. I know how to put my heart and soul into everything I cook. It’s because of you I am the man you see today. So I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from treating yourself so poorly, because the way I see it, the most beautiful flowers bloom in the greatest adversity.”

…

“Are you all right? You’ve become awfully weepy.”

Prompto shook his head but there were words he could not speak. Shivering, blinded by tears without end, he wept. Wept beyond the point of return, kept on weeping even with every inch of him bleeding, throbbing, hurting so much. Aching. Longing. Absorbing every drop of comfort his newfound sanctuary offered. He wept as his head was gently laid against the other’s chest, pressed there by gentle hands. Moments passed before Ignis said what would forever be some of the most beautiful, romantic lines ever uttered in Eos’ history.

“Bloody hell, where are those dull-witted morons of ours? They should’ve been here by now! Useless rascals.”

It was at that point Prompto gave a sharp yelp, jumping out of Ignis’ arms in shock. Two boulders barreled onto the once-serene scene, making their imprint known as though they were lightning bolts trying to prove a point. The beloved bolts were none other than Prince Noctis and his forever loyal bodyguard, the brilliant, brave and wise Gladiolus. 

“I TOLD you we should’ve taken that turn! If we had, we would’ve found them sooner! But do you ever listen to me? NO, because you aren’t anything but a stupid, whiny, good-for-nothing pain in my ass!”

“Maybe if you hadn’t spent the entire time whining about being hungry, we would’ve been able to get somewhere much faster!”

Noctis indicated his other brothers with a hand. “Look, my little brother’s hurt and Ignis is dying! Now he won’t be able to cook us dinner! Are you proud of yourself?!”

“I’ll have you know that I’m very much alive, thank you,” Ignis snarled, storming towards the indignant prince and his kind, gentle, loving bodyguard. “And just for that, neither of you are getting anything to eat for dinner! You can fill yourself on the dirt beneath your feet, for all I care!”

Gladiolus laid a hand against his heart in a show of hurt, shock. “Don’t bring me into this, Princess! I tried to get here sooner!”

Not at all interested in taking the gladiator’s side, Ignis jabbed him in the chest. “Don’t take me for a fool. You’re supposed to be setting an example for him, yet all you’re doing is infecting him with your stupidity! And if either of you were even remotely aware of courtesy, you’d be relieving me of my wounds! I’m certain one of you have some potions, yes? And take care of Prompto, for gods’ sake!”

Lightning seized the pit of the gunslinger’s stomach the moment Noctis eyed him. The prince’s eyes were alive with the warm affection Prompto had become so familiar with, but there was just a teeny tiny problem that needed to be hidden. A little-

Ah. Ignis tore an inch off his sleeve and wrapped it around the teeny, tiny problem, all in a heartbeat. It was in the wake of that swift movement Prompto found himself beaming. Glowing while fury rose into a crescendo. “You blaggards don’t deserve a damn thing from me,” Ignis went on, burning holes into both Noct’s and Gladio’s skulls. The prince went to work healing him all the while, smiling, emitting light that made him feel as though the Creators themselves were cradling him. “I have every right to make sure the two of you starve,” the master chef growled, Gladiolus administering potions to him all the while.

“Perhaps if you had been more diligent in battle, our chocobo wouldn’t have gotten hurt!”

“I don’t know, you guys,” the prince said, head tilted, eyes darting between Iris’ brother and the young photographer. “Maybe we should book it and leave Ignis here. Wouldn’t be so bad if he died. He’d stop nagging us.”

Prompto’s face fell, as though his brother had just suggested burning all of his photo albums. Meanwhile-

“Sounds like a good idea to me, Highness. I mean, we’d have to learn how to cook and everything, but anyone can do it. Not like anything Ignis makes is a big deal. Besides, all he ever does is-YEOW!”

Rubbing his singed chest with flashing eyes, Gladio stared his counterpart down. “Mind telling me why you keep roasting me and not Noct?!”

“Because the kingdom’s future rests on his shoulders, and it’s YOUR fault he’s becoming a bloody annoying, aggravating, brain-dead flea!”

As the scene secretly manufactured for a certain chocobo’s pleasure went on, Noctis turned to Prompto with a smile carved out of infinite fondness. “Sorry it took so long, little brother,” the sovereign apologized, ruffling the other’s hair. 

“Ignis didn’t drive you insane, did he?”

Prompto smiled, sunshine flooding his chest as the pain he had been carrying disappeared.

“Nah uh. We had a nice little chat, and now everything’s good. Pretty great, actually. I actually wanna say things are perfect between us.”

And it was at that moment, Prompto Argentum did something he never thought he’d do.

He smiled not just at the new cloth that covered his barcode, but at the barcode as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by a user named QueenofDirt. Without the Queen of Dirt’s feedback, this project would’ve been left a oneshot. I’ve been wanting to have Prompto show his barcode to Ignis for a while now. Thanks to that star shooting through my sky, I found the inspiration to whip up this chapter.
> 
> There's a line in here inspired by Disney's Mulan. See if you can spot it!
> 
> This is a verse in which Ignis doesn’t come to life until Prompto’s introduced. Before Noctis brings Prompto into his world, Ignis is simply the prince’s cold, meticulous caretaker. The day he finds Prompto playing a game with Noctis in the arcade, he begins to open up, and little by little, he transforms into the Ignis that travels with the rest of the Sailor Scouts on many adventures. The fussy, snarky, sassy, creative Ignis. 
> 
> The banter between Ignis, Noctis and Gladiolus was inspired by the Clannad series, in which the heroine’s eccentric, doting parents put on theatrical, comedic displays for their daughter’s amusement. The boys regularly ‘argue’ with each other just to make Prompto laugh. Sometimes they fail and actually upset him (as Noct did in saying they should let Ignis die), but most of the time they’re treated to Prompto’s laughter.
> 
> This project will actually end here, because I honestly haven’t found the courage to write the aftermath of Prompto’s captivity. I probably won’t stop being afraid until Episode Prompto’s released. So for now, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
> 
> I mean it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a verse in which Prompto reveals his barcode to Ignis, so by the time the chocobo’s rescued from Ardyn, Ignis already knows his secret. It’s Noctis and Gladiolus Prompto continues to worry about, believing both would turn from him if they ever found out the truth. Gladio, being spiritually close to Ignis, senses Ignis’ knowledge of Prompto’s truth, but not a word is said to Prompto. 
> 
> This is a verse in which Prompto and Ignis tell each other ‘I love you’, without actually saying the words until much, much later.
> 
> Thank you for being here, from the depths of my happy soul.


End file.
